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places to live in california, work laws in Ireland.

I lost my job. that shakeup has me thinking I might as well shake up my life too. Since my hair won't take another perm, I'm going to move somewhere.

I am very lucky that I do tech work (lan/wan/windows/exchange) so there are positions open anywhere I've looked. now I need to narrow down the specific cities and towns I should give a closer look to.

wish list:
I'd like to live in a big town or city (no one-store towns) because of the happenings and good places to eat, preferably a city with a college or large cultural scene, year round decent weather since I prefer to use a motorcycle, and where the housing market has affordable places that aren't far off in the burbs. I'm so very over 60 minute commutes twice a day. Beach/park access would be nice as well.

So. what areas should I focus the job hunt?

also: IRE. I'm in the processes of getting my dual citizenship with Ireland. Anyone have expertise doing something like this to land a job? Anyone know what the local job markets are like now? Does citizenship in one EU state allow someone to work in others?

I'll second San Francisco. The Bay Area in general is my absolute favorite place in all of Americaland, and SF itself is crammed with culture. I'm also sure there'd be plenty of tech job openings. It's expensive, though.

also: IRE. I'm in the processes of getting my dual citizenship with Ireland. Anyone have expertise doing something like this to land a job? Anyone know what the local job markets are like now? Does citizenship in one EU state allow someone to work in others?

Once you get citizenship with Ireland, you are entitled to work anywhere in the EU. The best places to work in tech jobs would probably be London, Finland, Dublin, Sweden. Dublin has been on a downturn, however, and a lot of stuff in the London area isn't in London, but in the soulless commuter towns that surround it.

I'd probably go to the Bay Area unless you have a strong preference for working in telecommunications (which Scandinavia are good at). Bay Area is where stuff is really happening, and San Francisco is one of the best cities in the world IMHO.

I went through the rigamarole of getting a visa to go in less than two weeks now, so I have the courage of my convictions

also: IRE. I'm in the processes of getting my dual citizenship with Ireland. Anyone have expertise doing something like this to land a job? Anyone know what the local job markets are like now? Does citizenship in one EU state allow someone to work in others?

Once you get citizenship with Ireland, you are entitled to work anywhere in the EU. The best places to work in tech jobs would probably be London, Finland, Dublin, Sweden. Dublin has been on a downturn, however, and a lot of stuff in the London area isn't in London, but in the soulless commuter towns that surround it.

I'd probably go to the Bay Area unless you have a strong preference for working in telecommunications (which Scandinavia are good at). Bay Area is where stuff is really happening, and San Francisco is one of the best cities in the world IMHO.

I went through the rigamarole of getting a visa to go in less than two weeks now, so I have the courage of my convictions

London is pretty good fun. If you are from an english speaking country it is pretty easy to fit in as well since half the city seems to be foreign born as well. SO far as work goes - yeah, like Lewisham says a lot of easy to get work sits just outside of London. So long commutes can be the order of the day - that being said, I go about 20km each way by public transport to get to work and it takes about 30 door to door. So it isn't all bad

If there was somewhere with jobs, short/no commutes, good city life, and affordable housing, everyone would move there. In fact they do, thats why there is no affordable housing in those places! ><

If you do go to Ireland I'd try for Cork over Doublin. It is nicer. It has everything you like about big cites with far fewer of the things you don't like about big cities. And yeah, I've heard from people I know in Ireland that there is a slight downturn, but my friends there are all still doing well. I would say Ireland's economie, small thought it might be, is doing better then the USA's.

If there was somewhere with jobs, short/no commutes, good city life, and affordable housing, everyone would move there. In fact they do, thats why there is no affordable housing in those places! ><

If you do go to Ireland I'd try for Cork over Doublin. It is nicer. It has everything you like about big cites with far fewer of the things you don't like about big cities. And yeah, I've heard from people I know in Ireland that there is a slight downturn, but my friends there are all still doing well. I would say Ireland's economie, small thought it might be, is doing better then the USA's.

Some of the forecasts about Ireland are really quite dire now. After 15 years of boom a lot of economists and the like think that the long boom is over there. Annecdotal evidence from my trip there a few months sort of backs that up - loads of empty commercial buildings in Dublin (more than usual apparently), a nasty property-mortgage fraud/scam/thingy, collapse in property prices and increased emigration from native born Irish. That being said, Dublin looks pretty nice - clean, good public transport etc, I really liked the place even though things seemed to cost more than London

Depends on where you are. The good neighborhoods will obviously be on the higher end of the spectrum. Since I think San Francisco smells like pee and I generally avoid going there, I can't be more specific.

When I was looking, right on the bay, the rent was about $2000. Definitely worth it for the convenience and about a 30-40 minute drive to some of the longer distance jobs listed as SF Bay.

I was thinking about moving there myself, I can't get the capital to afford the costly move though due to pets and because no job where I live pays near enough to get first + last month rent and a pet deposit for any of California. I might as well put a down payment on a house here.

Thread Hijack!

Help me move to California on my meager average salary with 3 cats, a rabbit, a bird, and a $600 school loan payment per month.

That sucks about ireland. I remember reading a few years back how it was going to be the new tech center of the EU.

Yeah, tried and failed. MIT are out, and most of the rest of that stuff left too I think. But it's the only place that pops into my head, after Scandinavia and London, as somewhere where tech stuff goes on in the EU.

If you get into EU then you can move to whatever member country you like.

As for a tech I think you should consider Copenhagen (The capital of Denmark). Just as in the rest of Scandinavia pretty much everybody speaks English and getting a job is easy since we have a record low unemployment (1.4% or just about).

While I'm doing the sales pitch I might as well back up with some facts:

Help me move to California on my meager average salary with 3 cats, a rabbit, a bird, and a $600 school loan payment per month.

god that's oppressive. Could you defer the loan for a few months?

I already maxed out my deferments because of a health issue unfortunately. I can't find anyone to consolidate my private loans because of the horrible reputation my school has with defaulting. And I'm locked in at a horribly fucking bad interest rate because I had absolutely no credit-history going into college short of a $200 credit card and limit.